Board of Directors 
Employees - Policy 3.15 
- Revised NOVEMBER, 2009
A. HEALTH AND SAFETY Kokua is required by WAC and contract to maintain staffing levels which are adequate to implement the goals of the clients’ service plans and which assure basic health and safety needs are met.
B. STAFFING FLEXIBILITY All new employees will be given a hiring letter designating their part-time or full-time status and a description of their official schedule. Because the needs of our clients change, staff schedules may need to be adjusted from time to time. Kokua cannot guarantee that employees will always retain the same team membership or the same schedules that that they were assigned on the date of hire. Working a temporary schedule does not signify a change to the employee’s official schedule. Employees will revert to their official schedule when staffing is stabilized. Employee benefit eligibility is determined by the number of hours on an employee’s official staff schedule.
C. MANDATORY SHIFT CHANGES
While it is Kokua’s practice to try to fill staff shortages through voluntary means, when critical staffing shortages occur, Kokua employees may be required to work additional hours, including overtime hours, in order to assure the health and safety of our clients. The following individuals have the authority to require an employee to work over and above their regular schedule: Team Leaders, Service Coordinators, the Assistant Director and the Executive Director. If possible, mandatory fill-in should be limited to 12 hour shifts. In cases of extreme staff shortages, e.g. an event of severe weather, natural disaster or pandemic illness, employees may be required to work longer shifts.
D. OVERTIME APPROVAL All overtime hours need pre-approval. On-Call Team Leaders or Service Coordinators may authorize short-term, emergency overtime to cover staff shortages occurring after business hours or on weekends. All other overtime must be approved by the Assistant Director or the Executive Director.
E. STAFFING SCHEDULES Each team is assigned a set number of direct service hours. This is the team’s scheduling budget. The team has the responsibility to create staffing schedules which reflect actual client needs and preferences. (Full-time employee schedules should consist of 38-40 hours per week wherever possible.) Regularly scheduled shifts should not exceed 10 hours in length. All schedules must be approved by the Assistant Director.
If a team feels that the number of hours assigned to them is not adequate to meet client needs, the team should submit a written request to the Assistant Director. The request should outline the client needs involved and should recommend the number of hours required to correct the understaffing. The Service Coordination Team will review the proposed budget to assure that all client health and safety needs are being met. In order to assure that the agency remains within budget, final approval of staff schedules will be given in writing by the Executive Director or the Assistant Director.
Because it is essential that on-call staff have copies of up-to-date staffing schedules, the Team Support Specialist assisting the Client Service Coordinators will put copies of all newly approved, dated schedules in the On-Call Book Update mailbox. This box should be checked at least weekly when the On-Call Book is passed to the next on-call staff person.
E. STAFFING SHORTAGES When an individual is unable to work their scheduled shift due to illness or injury, a staffing shortage may occur. Routine staffing shortages are the responsibility of individual teams. Teams are expected to proactively recruit and train fill-in staff so that they have resources available to deal with staffing shortages. All team members are expected to share the responsibility of covering unexpected staff shortages. Teams are also expected to keep overtime usage to a minimum. Team members can use a variety of short-term strategies to assure that basic health and safety needs are covered: i.e. split open shifts into 3 or 4 hour blocks to share the burden, shift secondary staff to cover openings.
If a team has exhausted its available resources and is not able to provide adequate coverage, they should ask their Client Services Coordinator for assistance.
F. EMPLOYEE EMERGENCIES
If an employee has a bona fide emergency (i.e. death of a family member, life threatening situation, is admitted to the hospital, etc.) it may not be possible for that individual to find coverage for their regularly scheduled shift. In case of an emergency, employees should use the On-Call system to notify Kokua emergency staff that there is an open shift. If an employee has an emergency during business hours, page the Medical Services Coordinator at 413-2428. If an employee has an emergency after business hours, call the On-Call Team Leader at 790-5892. It is not acceptable to leave a message on the agency voice mail. You must pass off responsibility for your shift directly to on-call personnel.
G. REQUEST FOR A CHANGE OF SCHEDULE
When an employee desires to change to a different shift or to work in a different location, the employee must fill out a Position Change Request form. A supply of these forms is kept in the office. The completed form should be turned in to the Human Resources Coordinator.
H. JOB OPENINGS
Open job positions will be posted on a bulletin board in the office. While memos may be circulated regarding some openings, it is the responsibility of the individual employee to check the job postings board for job openings. Any employee who meets the minimum qualifications for an open position may apply.